The Vagrants

The Vagrants

The Vagrants were a Long Island-based rock and blue-eyed soul group from the 1960s. The group was comprised of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Larry West on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums.

Rise to Stardom

By 1965, the group had developed a professional press kit and had gained the interest of the semi-professional Southern Sound record label and soon released a single: Oh Those Eyes b/w You're Too Young. Though the single wasn't very popular, it did gain the attention of directors Vince Scarza and Douglas Hickox, who were directing a Beach Party film called "Disk-o-Tek Holiday," which featured various music artists performing songs throughout the film. The clip that featured The Vagrants performing "Oh Those Eyes" is now considered a classic piece of mid-sixties history. However, The Vagrants weren't that thrilled with just one single and an unpopular sequence in a Beach Party film, and were soon signed to the "folkie" label Vanguard. It was then when the group released their first minor hit: I Can't Make a Friend, which is frequently found on garage band compilations and is one of their most recognizable early efforts. Still unhappy, though, was Felix Pappalardi, a record producer that would later work with Cream, The Youngbloods, and Joan Baez. Pappalardi worked hard to sign the group to Atco Records, a sublabel of the famous Atlantic Recording Corporation. In the Eastern United States, a cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" became a smash hit. However, a few months later, Aretha Franklin's "Respect" was more of a success, therefore hurting the sales of The Vagrants' version. It wasn't long after the group released "Respect," however that guitarist Leslie West decided to reach further heights by forming his own group, Mountain with Felix Pappalardi. The formation of Mountain was extremely beneficial to West, though; he had many hits with the group: Mississippi Queen, For Yasgur's Farm, Nantucket Sleighride, Dreams of Milk and Honey, and Never In My Life among others. Though The Vagrants existed for such a short time, their impact on Long Island rockers is amazingly vibrant. A compilation of all of the group's singles (excepting both sides of the "Oh Those Eyes" 45) was released on a full-length record titled The Great Lost Album in 1986, upon which both Leslie and Larry West are credited by their birth names, Leslie and Larry Weinstein.

The New Vagrants

In the 1990s, singer Peter Sabatino decided to reform the group with new members to create The "New" Vagrants. The new lineup featured Tony Pinisi on organ, Eli Brown on bass guitar, Tom SanFilippo on guitar, and Joe Forgione (formerly of The Soul Survivors) on drums. The group has played many gigs throughout Long Island, especially at the OK Club and the Odyssey Club in Amityville, New York. The group started to record a new album called "21st Century Vagrants" in 2002 at Electric Randyland Studios in Manhassett. According to The New Vagrants' website, "the full length CD will contain remakes of many old Vagrants classics, some never before recorded tracks as well as some special guest appearances!" However, there is no new information on the album, because drummer Joe Forgione died of a heart attack in 2003. New information will be found on [http://www.thevagrants.net their website] .

Sources

1. [http://www.thevagrants.net The Vagrants Web Page]

2. Wikipedia's Article on Felix Pappalardi

3. [http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/reviews/rev271.html Disk-O-Tek Holiday Page on BadMoviePlanet.com]

External links

*Allmusicguide|id=11:jpfwxqy5ldhe


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The New Vagrants (disambiguation) — The New Vagrants can refer to: *The modern vagrants of the world. *The current reincarnation of the 1960s rock group, The Vagrants …   Wikipedia

  • The Rascals — Infobox musical artist Name = The Rascals (The Young Rascals) Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = group or band Alias = The Young Rascals Origin = New York City, New York, United States Genre = Soul Rock R B Punk Years active =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Devil's Advocate (film) — The Devil s Advocate Theatrical release poster Directed by Taylor Hackford Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • The Tripods — This article is about the novel series. For other uses, see Tripod (disambiguation). The Tripods is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV series,… …   Wikipedia

  • The Last Unicorn — Infobox Book name = The Last Unicorn title orig = translator = image caption = Dust jacket for the first edition of The Last Unicorn author = Peter S. Beagle illustrator = cover artist = country = United States language = English series = genre …   Wikipedia

  • The Rats (novel) — Infobox Book name = The Rats image caption = The Rats (1974) author = James Herbert illustrator = cover artist = country = United Kingdom language = English series = subject = genre = Horror publisher = New English Library release date = 1974… …   Wikipedia

  • The Wretched of the Earth — Infobox Book name = The Wretched of the Earth title orig = Les Damnés de la Terre translator = Constance Farrington (1963) Richard Philcox (2004) image caption = Cover to the 2004 translation author = Frantz Fanon illustrator = cover artist =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother — infobox Book | name = The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and her Heartless Grandmother title orig = translator = image caption = author = Gabriel García Márquez illustrator = cover artist = country = Colombia language = Spanish… …   Wikipedia

  • Question Mark & the Mysterians — Infobox musical artist Name = ? and the Mysterians Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = group or band Alias = Origin = Bay City, Michigan, United States Genre = Rock and roll Garage rock Proto punk Years active = 1962 current Label =… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 — diverse – Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era Veröffentlichung 1972 / 1998 (Box) Label Elektra Records / Sire Records (Rerelease) / Rhino Records (Box) Format(e) 2 LP, 4 CD Box Genre(s) Garage Rock Anza …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”